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They were leaving. Deserting her and everything she had put together. And why not? She had failed them on their first outing. Sure they had got what they came for. but had fallen into a trap and almost been defeated.

It wasn't a bad idea, to just leave. They could regroup somewhere else, but something held Seance back. This place, this empty warehouse was her home. No... that didn't make any sense. It was nothing and she had no attachment to it so why...?

Malfactus. It was his safehouse and he 'lived' inside of her. But for him to be so attached to this one empty building. It made Justice worry even more. Still it was hard to fight the urge to defend the place, to keep it safe, maybe there was something he wasn't telling her about this "safehouse"

"You go, and good luck. I'm going to stop them here... if I can. When things are safe, I'll... I'll find a way to contact you."

With that she watched the bulk of them leave and she sat down, turning her consciesness inward and then out... into the great beyond. Trying to contact a lost spirit, trying to find someone who had once had the power to help them.

Jake was leaning doubtfully by the wall. Arms and legs both crossed, seemingly casual, but perhaps interpreted by the more acute eye as a shield. Some psychological thing, and palpably laughable if one might draw that conclusion. As if a tangible barrier could ever ward off the torment of the metaphysical.

Hell, they didn't even notice me anyway. Why did I come here again?

The group had started off with its usual stereotypes. The drivers of the play. The mysterious, the strong, the elusive, the fast. Even in the outcasts of society there struck a certain repetitive rhythm. A quality of predictable diversity that manifested everywhere. No one had even noticed him tagging along previously. And his contribution was nil anyway. It was over before it had begun.

"Well, lady," Jake began hesitantly "I'll be staying here, if you don't mind me lounging around this crash pad of yours. Doubt that they really want me around anyway."

"So yeah. How can I help you out?"

OOC: Feel free to just proceed on with your business if you have some activity when I'm not online~

Haha, I miss typing in grandiose text but my poor Jelly simply isn't that kind of character *pats head* Making him more minor to the storyline for the sake of, well, the storyline XD

Summary:
They killed a few bad guys on the way to the apartment.
Some had lunch, some acquired upgrades, I assume everyone who went cleaned up of the gunk. Those at the lair are still smelly?
Companion: Dr. Fox was retrieved.1978 model Ford Pick up was acquired.

((OOC: man I need to not being having family issues so I can post more. Anyways... BEfore the group returned...))
Seance broke from her meditation for a moment as she was spoken too.

"You're Jake, right? Well... I appreciate whatever help you give us in defending the place. I'm going to try to contact someone from the Other Side now... just keep a lookout for me for now, okay?"

She returned to her trance, sending a call out across the Gulf of Life.

"Please, is there anyone who can help us?"

She waited for a moment. No response. And then.

"I'm sorry sweetie, but I'm dead. I don't know how much help I can be?"

Seance looked at the figure manifesting to her vision. The others couldn't see it or here it of course, well maybe Necropost if he was skulking around. It was a woman in a weird sort of Stage Magician get up. Her face partially obscured by a domino mask.

"Miss Direction?" Seance asked, allthough she could tell who it was, "Well... I mean you can help us, if you're willing. I can take you inside of me... for a little while and if you're willing, I can use your powers. We're trying to stop the Nihlorn, trying to retake the world. But we haven;t gotten a lot done and they're already about to storm the warehouse where we're hiding out. Maybe with your power I could turn them away, I don't know. could you please help?"

The phantom was quiet for a while and then, "This won't...hurt will it? I mean I'm already dead for heaven's sake. Just drifting...waiting, I haven't learned anything about being dead really except that it sucks. I don't want to not exist... is that what your power will do to me?"

Seance balled her fists up and took a deep breath before replying, perhaps a bit more angrily than she should.

"You...you coward! We're the only ones still trying to save the human race! If we all die here then humanity dies! Don't you care about that?" then, catching herself, "I'm sorry... I know being dead must be terrible, I'm just...we're all at wits end here. No, it won't hurt you... you'll just share my body for a time, I'll use your powers and then you'll be released back out. Please, help us, you may be our only hope of avoiding detection."

"Allright, I'll help," Miss Direction said quietly. Then her fluttering form moved toward Seance, and the crystal at the young girl's breast flared to life and the ghostly woman was pulled inside.

Seance rose to her feet, new purpose in her eyes.

"Allright everyone, be prepared to fight or flee, but I'm going to try and turn them away." With that, Justice Valentine went outside to stop the Nihlorn or die.

Storm clouds had gathered outside, and thunder flashed. In the distance she could see the approaching lights of the Nihlorn warforce. Now was the time to see if Miss Direction's powers were as powerful as they once were. Seance made a wide sweeping gesture with her hand, first toward the warehouse, then back toward the facing street and finally over her own form. A strange double vision assaulted her eyes, as she could see both what was there, and now what was overlying the actual area.

~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~

Nihlorn Hunter~Commander Marth'Ro marched ahead of his SynthSoldiers. He could feel the humming power of hover tanks behind him. One of his subordinates had brought home news of Powered humans in the area, and that meant it was time to hunt and snare. This was the best part, hunting down the humans, giving them just enough hope of escape that when the Nihlorn's descended inexorably on them, the despair was thick enough to taste. He didn't care for the physical torture many of his other kind so craved. It was crass. The mental agony of crushing hope was one of his truest passions. At last they arrived in the area where the Powers were last spotted, and their trail led back to this warehouse the force now waited in front of.

Marth'Ro scowled as the operators in the tanks continue to run scan after scan. The building was deserted...gutted. The streets itself were a veritable wreck of debris. It looked as if this place had fallen in the earliest moments of Nihlorn occupation and had long since been stripped by the pathetic human looters. He waited, and waited. Even the air smelled of abandon here. When the scans were at last complete, Marth'Ro uttered a curse. The scout that had brought him this information would at least perform some sport for the Hunter~Commander's specially designed ProwlerSynths but it was a hollow consolation for their being now human to hunt. Still this place would be swept by his force officially soon enough. He turned and left, and his forces went with him.

~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~

Seance had been holding her breath. The leader of the Nihlorn forces had stopped inches away from her. It took all her might to maintain control of Miss Directions powers and to avoid screaming all at the same time. She could feel the thing's breath, and it was odd, the breath was cold, like frost, not warm like that of a humans. It made her shiver.

At last the forces turned and left the area. Her ruse had worked. After a few moments had passed, she gasped as Miss Direction left her body. With both the SwitchBlader and Malfactus's residing within, she couldn't keep another spirit held for long. The girl staggered back into the warehouse and collapsed onto one of the sleeping bags. They were safe for now.

Mr. Redd was glad he had no olfactory sense. The smell of shit would have entered his non-existent nose and made him retch. And yet, he looked around to see other materials. Synth juice and... alien shit perhaps? He looked away and went forward through the sewer system.

He sighed as he realized he had no idea where he was. The small pools of light granted by the gutters and his own body were barely sufficient for the suffocating darkness of the caverns. He looked up to see synth soldiers scanning the area.

He looked down to see his feet starting to disappear as the molecules of water slowly reflected his photons. He needed to get out of the current. A manhole was above.

Mr. Redd climbed the ladder and came to the manhole. A push. It didn't budge. Another push. Nothing happened.

Most had scurried away, like rats. Who knew if they would return. The others were occupied with 'defenses'. Necropost sneered at the lot of them. Then he moved over to the real prize, the fallen SynthSoldier.

Yes he had paid attention during the mind rape and autopsies, and the information he had gleaned was VERY useful. So the SynthSoldiers were created from humans, eh? And this one, though it appeared more machine than anything else, was a partially biological organism that was now thouroughly dead. You know what that means.

Cursed light being had tossed the heart aside. Now Necropost moved to retrieve it. He held the dripping, filth covered heart in one hand and stared, bemused at it. Once he might have found carrying a human heart, with dirt and grime smearing it, to be distasteful. Now his sensibilities were different, he had grown accustomed to working with filth, as his present company testified.

The necromancer knelt by the opened chassis of the SynthSoldier and replaced the heart. It was fairly simple actually. The connections were visible, even color coded. He wondered for a moment if civillain Nihlorn had SynthSoldier's of their own, buying them and hooking them up themselves, like a personal computer. Still it didn't matter. He connected the wirings back to the heart and removed his glove. His other hand brought up a curved knife and he sliced it across his bare finger. The man's own blood dripped into the mesh of brain, heart, and advanced alien technology as he crooned quietly to it, words of dark power.

There was a spark, a glow of deathly energy and Necropost replaced the chest cover on the SynthSoldier. He took a step back and watched, triumphantly as it clambered to its feet. He beamed proudly, and as the other's became to crawl back to the base, he cleared his throat.

Themis watched expressionlessly while Necropost reanimated the SynthSoldier. From her outward demeanor one could not even suppose common interest, but inside she was conflicted. That tiny voice that helped her find her victims was urging her to action. Kill the necro now. He suspects nothing. Too dangerous to live. Too dangerous to be of use. Kill. Kill. Kill...

A shiver passed from head to toe at the whisper of dark power. Always sensitive to the use of any sort of magic, she felt it to her bones like a chilling wind. Absently her hand found the hilt of a dagger sheathed on her thigh, and she began to stroke it fondly. That tingling began again in her hands, and up her arms, making her elbow desire action. She shook her head once as the zombie lumbered into being.

"Who's got a death robot zombie, you bitches? This guy." said Necropost.

"Congratulations." Themis said tonelessly, so that anything might be inferred from her speech. If sarcasm was her intent, it was not readily apparent. "Let us all hope that you know enough about it to control it sufficiently. Losing command of such a thing in this base might prove to be disastrous."

Looking back to where Dr Fox lay sleeping she shook her head again and muttered, "Hubris."

Mr. Redd was struggling now. He strained his non-existent muscles at the manhole cover. Suddenly, it popped off. Growls could be heard. Mr. Redd poked out his head to see why the manhole had been stuck in the first place.

There had been a Synth and a couple of his buddies standing on top of it.

Before they could react he jumped out of the hole and was running in what he suspected to be the direction of the lair. He could hear the sound of ceramic feet running behind him.

"Oh wait a minute."

Mr. Redd stopped. He looked around and jumped at the nearest transparent thing he saw. Thankfully, it was a window.

Well after a few hours walk we got back, huh nothing has happened just yet. Well seems like everythings clear. Necro seems to be reanimating the alien thing, whatever works we need all the man power we can get.

I wonder where Mr. Redd is, probably looking for things. But honestly I think we might double cross us, searching for things just seems like a good excuse to give away plans. Perhaps I am too soon to judge him, but I still don't trust the guy.

Honestly I still think we need more organization, that little joy ride seemed to accomplish us little of anything at all. In battle we would be much more better if we spent a bit planing out attack plan. Perhaps I will bring this up with he head girl in a bit. But for now I got to talk to Chamber.

"Hey Chamber can I ask you a favor? You mind making me some sort of metal suit to wight me down. I you need I can scramble together some metal?"

OCC: beasty gave me the thumbs up, if he was wrong please don't hesitate to tell me to delete this

OOC: Kirby: Your character should be careful not to say that he thought that retrieving Fox was useless, or else Themis might take it badly. Just an advisory, she can be a little over protective of the fuzzy wuzzy doctor.

((Let us assume that Necropost has the opportunity to respond here IF DESIRED, and we can retro-post something in if need be))

Themis tilted her head to the side in a birdlike manner. Something was niggling at the back of her mind. Something important. Like a tickling feather that couldn't be seen, couldn't be found, and wouldn't go away. She concentrated on it as best she could and discovered that it had color: Red.

Bizarre.

Try as she might to ignore it, the feeling persisted. Examining the 'feeling' made it take on weight. It felt like a presence, more than a color. And then she realized, she was sensing some sort of distress from Mr. Redd.

Strange, their acquaintance had been brief enough that she should have been unable to track him or sense him in any way. But there it was. Galvanized into motion, she put off puzzling over the oddity and said calmly instead, "Mr. Redd is in trouble."

Waking Gil, she told him that something was amiss, and that she intended to investigate. While she refused to take him with her, she didn't want to leave him alone and defenseless in sleep. Trusting that he would be unhurt if left behind, she turned in a shadow and disappeared leaving before he could argue to accompany her.

...and reappeared in a warehouse not unlike the one she had left. It was just as dusty and dirty as their lair, and just as empty but for a red glow.

"this is all i've got at the moment, unless you feel like eating tuna straigt from the can... ugh..."

chamber looked over at necropost. his actions seemed puzzling and unnecessary. why would we bring back a fallen enemy? especially when JD's powers could easily and sporadically turn it against them? Chamber shook his head, and turned back to hawk.

"hey, did you notice we sort of got back here rather... easily? i mean they seemed to come and go without any struggle. Care to tell us if you saw anything we didn't on the way back?"

Chamber turned to vet.

"And Vet, if you can get me the metal, i can get you some armor."

Though chamber really didn't know what an invincible man would need armor for, he had no reason to decline.

Mr. Redd ran through the mannequins while groping into the bundle he held. Finally he pulled out a pocket knife triumphantly. He turned around and with a few short jabs was able to take out the pursuing Synths.